Article holders with sensors detecting a type of article held by the holder

ABSTRACT

An article holder has sensors that detect whether an article held in the holder is a workpiece or a piece of packaging material. Examples are end effectors suitable for picking up semiconductor wafers and packaging material from a pod or some other carrier.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser.No. 10/265,056 filed on Oct. 4, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,665,583incorporated herein by reference which is a division of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 09/904,638 filed on Jul. 13, 2001, now U.S. Pat.No. 6,615,113 incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to article handling, and more particularlyto article holders that handle semiconductor wafers and other articles.

During fabrication of integrated circuits from semiconductor wafers, thewafers are stored and transported in cassettes. FIG. 1 illustrates acassette 110 holding a number of wafers 120. Each wafer rests onshoulders 130A, 130B formed on cylindrical cassette walls 140A, 140B. Arobot (not shown) transports the wafers between the cassette and waferprocessing equipment. An article holder (“end effector”) mounted on arobot arm holds the wafers by vacuum or electrostatic forces, or using agas vortex, or by other means.

When a wafer is thin (below 100 μm), the wafer is difficult to store ina cassette. The wafer sags under its own weight, and can fall off thecassette shoulders 130A, 130B. A thin wafer can also be warped due tothe internal stresses caused by the presence of different materials(semiconductor materials, metals, dielectrics) which constitute thewafer circuitry. Therefore, thin wafers have been stored in horizontalwafer shipment containers (“pods”), such as pod 210 in FIG. 2. Wafers120 are stacked in the pod on top of each other, with paper or plasticinserts 220 separating the wafers. Foam 230 is provided at the top andbottom of the stack (the top piece of foam is not shown). The foam andthe paper or plastic inserts have roughly the same shape as the wafers,and most or all of the bottom surface of each wafer is in physicalcontact with the paper inserts above and below the wafer. The wafercircuitry is protected however. A typical fabrication process startswith fairly thick wafers (e.g. 600 to 800 μm for silicon wafers) whichare stored in a cassette. When the wafer circuitry has been fabricatedand a protective passivation layer has been formed on the circuitry sideof the wafer, the wafer is thinned down from the other side to a finalthickness (which may be 100 μm or less), and is stored in a pod. At thisstage, the wafer circuitry is protected by the passivation layer, so thephysical contact between the wafer 120 and the paper or plastic 220 isacceptable.

It is desirable to provide wafer handling techniques suitable forstorage of wafers in pods.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides end effectors suitable for handling ofwafers stored in pods such as pod 210 of FIG. 2. The end effectors havesensors that allow automatic detection of whether an article held by theend effector is a wafer or a piece of packaging material, e.g. paper orplastic, or foam. Some embodiments can handle wafers stored in pods aswell as wafers stored in cassettes.

The invention is not limited to thin wafers, and is applicable to thickwafers stored in pods or cassettes. The invention is also applicable tocontainers other than pods and cassettes.

The invention is not limited to semiconductor wafers. Some embodimentsinclude article holders that handle glass or polymer wafers, or wafersmade from other materials. In some embodiments, the articles handled bythe end effector are multiple wafers bonded together. Such articles canbe formed in the process of manufacture of vertically integratedcircuits. See U.S. Pat. No. 6,184,060 issued Feb. 6, 2001 to O.Siniaguine and incorporated herein by reference. An article may includea combination of semiconductor and non-semiconductor wafers. See U.S.patent application Ser. No. 09/791,977 filed on Feb. 22, 2001 by O.Siniaguine and incorporated herein by reference. In other embodiments,the articles are flat-panel displays or other types of articlesextending generally along a plane. Packaging materials other than paperor foam can be used.

The invention is not limited to article holders that are part of arobot. Some embodiments include hand-held article holders, or articleholders mounted on non-electronically-controlled machinery. Theinvention is defined by the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional wafer storage cassette.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a conventional pod for storingsemiconductor wafers.

FIGS. 3, 4 are perspective views showing an end effector according toone embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a bottom view showing the end effector of FIGS. 3, 4.

FIGS. 6-8 are side views showing the end effector of FIGS. 3-5.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the top and a side of an endeffector 310 according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG.4 is a perspective view showing the same side and the bottom of the endeffector. FIG. 5 is a plan bottom view. The end effector is suitable forpicking up wafers 120, paper 220 and foam 230 from pod 210, and forplacing wafers, paper and foam in the pod. The end effector can alsoplace wafers in, and pick up wafers from, a cassette 110 (FIG. 1). Theend effector has a color sensor 320, a capacitance sensor 330, a top ofstack sensor 340 (shown as an emitter/receiver pair 340E, 340R), asensor 350 (shown as an emitter/receiver pair 350E, 350R), and a sensor360 (shown as emitter 360E, receiver 360R). These sensors are used todetect whether the end effector is holding a wafer, a paper insert, orfoam. These sensors are also used to detect the presence of a wafer in acassette and whether or not the wafer is cross slotted.

The end effector is mounted on an adaptor 370 attached to a robot arm380 (FIG. 3). The robot can be a conventional robot, for example, modelGBY7S available from Genmark Automation of Sunnyvale, Calif. The robotmay be controlled by its computer 384 which receives commands from aprogrammable logic controller (PLC) 390. The robot receives signals fromthe sensors, sends them to the PLC, and performs actions as directed byits computer 384 and the PLC. The invention is not limited to robots,PLCs, adaptors, or any particular end effector control techniques. FIGS.3-5 also show mounting holes (such as 394) and screws that hold thestructure together. Such mounting means are not limiting.

The end effector of FIGS. 3-5 is a non-contact type. It holds articleswith gas vortices emitted from openings 410 (FIGS. 4, 5) in its bottomsurface. Only a few of the openings are labeled in the drawings. Gasvortex end effectors are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,582 issuedAug. 1, 2000 to Siniaguine et al. and incorporated herein by reference.See also U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/632,236 filed Aug. 4, 2000by S. Casarotti et al.; U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/633,086filed Aug. 4, 2000 by S. Kao; U.S. patent application Ser. No.09/877,366 entitled “Article Holders That Use Gas Vortices To Hold AnArticle In A Desired Position”, filed Jun. 8, 2001 by S. Kao. In anexemplary embodiment, the end effector has a body 310B made of a topplate and a bottom plate. A number of vortex chucks are positioned in ahollow region (not shown) between the two plates. Gas is supplied underpressure into the hollow region. The gas enters the vortex chucks, andexits in vortices through openings 410 in the bottom plate. The gasvortices create an attraction force that holds the wafer, paper, or foamarticle near the body of the end effector. The gas also creates acushion that prevents the article from touching the bottom surface ofthe end effector except at break pads 420. Break pads 420 protrude fromthe bottom surface of the end effector to prevent the article fromsliding laterally. The article is pressed against the break pads by theattraction force of the gas vortices. FIG. 5 shows at 120 a contour of awafer held in the end effector. The paper and foam occupy a similarposition. The invention is not limited to gas vortex end effectors,break pads, or end effectors made of two plates.

Color sensor 320 allows the end effector to distinguish between a wafer120 and a paper or plastic insert 220. Color sensor 320 includes anemitter and a receiver, and generates a binary signal indicating whetheror not the color of the article held by the end effector is the color ofpaper 220. In some embodiments, the inserts are black, the wafers aregray, and the color sensor generates a signal indicating the presence ofthe black color. In other embodiments, the sensor 320 generates a signalindicating the presence of the gray color. In some embodiments, thesensor is programmable to indicate the presence of a color programmedinto the sensor. Such color sensors are known. One example is modelCZ-K1 available from Keyence Corporation of Woodcliff Lake, N.J. Otherembodiment use sensors that generate a non-binary signal whose valueindicates which of a set of colors the sensor has detected.

In FIGS. 3-5, the color sensor 320 is mounted in a hole passing throughthe body of the end effector. Sensor 320 is connected to the robot bymeans of a fiber optic conduit 440 (FIG. 3) that houses two fiber opticcables, one cable for the emitter of the sensor and the other cable forthe receiver. Fiber optic conduit 440 is positioned in a groove in thetop surface of the end effector body 310B. The invention is not limitedto such conduits, or a particular position of the conduits, or any otherconstruction. For example, conduit 440 can be positioned between the topand bottom plates of the end effector, or under the bottom plate, andcan be a non-fiber-optic wire.

Capacitance sensor 330 (FIGS. 4, 5) is a redundant sensor provided, likethe color sensor, to distinguish between a wafer 120 and a paper orplastic insert 220. Capacitance sensor 330 is positioned on the bottomsurface of the end effector, and is connected to the robot by means of acable 450. Such sensors are known, and one example is modelSK-25-10/25-b available from SIE Sensors of Toledo, Ohio. The controllogic (e.g. computer robot 384 and/or PLC 390) can be programmed torecognize a wafer when both of the sensors 320, 330 indicate a wafer, orat least one of the two sensors indicates a wafer, or when one specificsensor (e.g. the color sensor) indicates a wafer. Similarly, the controllogic can be programmed to recognize a paper or plastic insert or foamwhen at least one of the two sensors, or a specific one of the twosensors, or both, indicate a paper insert or foam. (In some embodiments,the foam is detected by sensor 340 as described below, and the sensors320, 330 are not used for foam detection.) The control logic can beprogrammed to generate an alarm signal when the sensor data areinconsistent, e.g. one of the sensors 320, 330 indicates a wafer and theother one of the sensors 320, 330 indicates paper or plastic.

Additional redundant sensors can be provided, which recognize articlesbased on physical properties other than color or capacitance. Forexample, magnetic properties can be exploited. Other embodiments do nothave redundant sensors, for example, only a capacitance sensor or only acolor sensor is provided. Multiple sensors of the same type, e.g.,multiple color sensors, can be provided. Their signals can be averaged.

In some embodiments, the sensors 320, 330 are flush with the bottomsurface of the end effector body 310B to provide a smooth surface whichis easy to clean and which does not accumulate particles.

Top of stack sensor 340 (shown as an emitter/receiver pair 340E, 340R)detects the top article in pod 210 and/or cassette 110 when the endeffector is not holding any article and is moving down searching for thetop article to pick up. When the end effector has picked up the article,sensor 340 is used to determine whether or not the article is foam 230.Sensor 340 is also used when the end effector is placing a wafer 120 oran insert 220 into a pod or a cassette. As explained below, the wafersand the inserts do not block the sensor 340, so the sensor can detectthe top of stack in the pod with a wafer or insert in the end effector.When the top of stack is detected, the end effector can place the waferarticle or the insert article on the stack and release the article.

Sensor 340 is a thru-beam sensor. Emitter 340E is mounted on the “nose”of the end effector (the nose is the part away from the robot). Receiver340R is mounted on the “tail” of the end effector (close to the robot).When the end effector picks up an article (wafer, paper or foam), thearticle is between emitter 340E and receiver 340R. See FIG. 5 showingthe contour of wafer 120. See also FIG. 6 showing schematically a sideview of the end effector holding a wafer 120. A wafer 120 or a paper orplastic insert 220 are closer to the end effector body 310B than thelight apertures 340A of emitter 340E and receiver 340R. (The term “lightaperture” is used herein for the light emitting area of the emitter andthe light detecting area of the receiver respectively.) Therefore, awafer or a paper or plastic insert will not break a beam of light 460from emitter 340E to receiver 340R. Foam 230 is thicker and will breakthe beam, as shown in FIG. 7. In some embodiments, wafers 120 andinserts 220 are at most 0.6 mm thick. The “flying gap” (the distancebetween the wafer or insert article and the end effector body 310B) isat most 0.5 mm. Foam pieces 230 are about 3 mm to 26 mm thick. Emitter340E protrudes down less than receiver 340R in order to make the endeffector thinner at the nose. The thinner nose makes it easier for theend effector to enter cassette 110. In some embodiments, sensor 340 ismodel FU-16 available from Keyence Corporation. The aperture 340A is atthe center of emitter 340E, and is 1.27 mm below the end effector body310B. Aperture 340A of receiver 340R is at the center of the receiver,and is 7.62 mm below the body 310B. These dimensions are not limiting.In some embodiments, the emitter and receiver apertures 340A areequidistant from body 310B, so beam 460 is horizontal. Therefore, whenthe end effector is looking for the top of stack, and the beam isbroken, the distance between the article breaking the beam and the body310B is precisely determined by the robot.

In some embodiments, the receiver protrudes down less or by the sameamount as the emitter. In some embodiments, the emitter is positioned atthe tail of the end effector, and the receiver is at the nose, and thereceiver may or may not protrude down less than the emitter. The emitterand receiver position can be chosen as needed for a particularapplication. For example, if the end effector is used with plasmaprocessing equipment, it may be desirable to position the receiver so asto minimize disturbance of the sensor by the light emitted by theplasma.

FIG. 3 shows a fiber optic cable 470 used to connect the transmitter340E to the robot. Cable 470 is positioned in a groove in the topsurface of the end effector body. This construction is not limiting.

The invention is not limited to thru-beam sensors or to particularpositioning of the sensor elements. For example, a retroreflectivesensor can be used.

Sensor 350 (shown as an emitter/receiver pair 350E, 350R) helps detectthe presence of an article in the end effector. Emitter 350E ispositioned on a side of the end effector body 310B. When the endeffector is holding an article, light aperture 350A of emitter 350E isabove the article. See FIG. 8. Receiver 350R is positioned on the tailportion of the end effector, laterally to the side of the article. Lightaperture 350A of receiver 350R is below the top surface of the article.Any article held by the end effector, including a wafer, a paper insert,or foam, will break the beam 480 from the emitter to the receiver. FIG.8 schematically illustrates this for a wafer 120.

The position of emitter 350E and receiver 350R can be interchanged.

Fiber optic cable 490 (FIG. 3) is used to connect the emitter 350E tothe robot. Cable 490 is positioned in a groove in the top surface of theend effector body. This construction is not limiting.

Sensor 360, shown in FIGS. 4, 5 as an emitter/receiver pair 360E, 360R,is similar. It detects the article on the other side of the endeffector. When the end effector is holding an article, the lightaperture of emitter 360E is above the article. Receiver 360R ispositioned on the tail portion of the end effector, away from theposition of the article. The receiver's light aperture is below the topsurface of the article. Any article held by the end effector, includinga wafer, a paper insert, or foam, will break the beam from the emitterto the receiver.

The position of emitter 360E and receiver 360R can be interchanged.

Fiber optic cable 494 (FIG. 3) is used to connect the emitter 360E tothe robot. Cable 494 is positioned in a groove in the top surface of theend effector body. This construction is not limiting.

In some embodiments, sensors 350, 360 are positioned to detect sometypes of articles (e.g. foam) but not other types.

In some embodiments, sensors 350, 360 are used to detect a wafer incassette 110. When one of these sensors detects a wafer and the otherone of these sensors does not, the wafer may be broken or cross-slotted.See the aforementioned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/632,236.

Sensors 350, 360 can be conventional devices, such as model FX-7available from SUNX Ltd. of West Des Moines, Iowa. They can also beretroreflective or other types of sensors. The invention is not limitedto the positioning of these sensors on the end effector.

Sensor 340 can be used with sensors 350, 360 to detect the presence ofan article lying in a cassette or a pod before the article is picked upby the end effector. Sensor 340 can also be used to detect an articleafter the article is picked up. Sensor 340 can detect the middle of thearticle, and each of sensors 350, 360 can detect one side of thearticle. If the sensors' signals are inconsistent, i.e., only one or twoof the three sensors detect an article, the article may be broken.

How the sensors are used depends on the programming of robot computer384 and PLC 390. For the purpose of illustration and not to limit theinvention, Table 1 below shows one possible use of the sensors. In theembodiment of Table 1, color sensor 320, capacitance sensor 330, and topof stack sensor 340 are ignored when a wafer is picked up or placed in acassette. Each sensor provides a binary detection signal, i.e. detect orno detect. Color sensor 320 detects the color of inserts 220.Capacitance sensor 330 detects the wafer capacitance. In Table 1, “D”means detection, “ND” means no detection, “X” means “don't care”.

TABLE 1 Sensor Sensor Top of Color Condition 350 360 Stack 340 320 Cap.330 End Effector ND ND ND ND ND Clear Wafer Present D D ND ND D Paper orPlastic D D ND D ND Present Foam Present X X D X X Top of Stack X X D XX Found Wafer cross D ND X X X slotted (if being taken from a cassette)or broken (if picked up and held in the end effector) Wafer cross ND D XX X slotted (if being taken from a cassette) or broken (if picked up andheld in the end effector)

In some embodiments, inconsistent signals are taken as indications of abroken wafer. For example, a piece of a wafer may block both of thesensors 350, 360, thus indicating a good wafer, but color sensor 320 orcapacitance sensor 330 may indicate no wafer, thus signaling a brokenwafer. Pieces of a broken wafer may move one over another in the endeffector, blocking the top of stack sensor 340. When different colorsensors and/or different capacitance sensors are present, inconsistentsignals from such sensors may also indicate a broken wafer. The robotcan be programmed to put broken wafers into a specially designated area.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. Othertypes of sensors, for example, CCD cameras, can be used. The inventionis applicable to article holders that hold an article from below or atsome angle. Other embodiments and variations are within the scope of theinvention, as defined by the appended claims.

1. An apparatus for transporting articles, the apparatus comprising: abody, and a mechanism for picking up an article, holding the articleproximate to the body when the body moves to transport the article, andreleasing the article; a thru-beam sensor attached to the body, whereinthe thru-beam senor's beam is broken when the article held by theapparatus is thicker than a first predetermined amount, but the beam isnot broken when the article held by the apparatus is thinner than asecond predetermined amount which is less than or equal to the firstpredetermined amount, wherein when the apparatus is not holding thearticle and the beam is not broken, then the beam becomes broken by anarticle to be picked up when the body is approaching the article to bepicked up, and wherein when the apparatus is holding an article thinnerthan the second predetermined amount and the beam is not broken, thebeam becomes broken when the body is approaching a surface at which thearticle is to be released; circuitry for receiving a signal indicatingif the beam is broken, and generating: a signal indicating that theapparatus is holding an article thicker than the first predeterminedamount when the apparatus is holding an article and the beam is broken;a signal indicating that the apparatus is holding an article thinnerthan the second predetermined amount when the apparatus is holding anarticle and the beam is not broken; a signal indicating that the body isapproaching an article to be picked up when the apparatus is not holdingan article and the beam becomes broke; and a signal indicating that thebody is approaching a surface at which an article is to be released whenthe apparatus is holding an article thinner than the secondpredetermined amount and the beam becomes broken.
 2. The apparatus ofclaim 1 wherein the beam extends along the body and along the article.3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus picks up the articlesfrom above.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the apparatus comprisesan end effector for transporting semiconductor wafers and pieces ofpackaging material, and the semiconductor wafers as well as pieces ofpackaging material inserted between the wafers are thinner than thesecond predetermined amount, but pieces of packaging material at an endof a stack of wafers are thicker than the first predetermined amount. 5.The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the mechanism comprises one or more gasvortex chucks.